Dunn and Aluko on target for Ladies

In match played behind closed doors at our training base in the Algarve, the Blues took the lead in the first half through new signing Crystal Dunn (pictured), who won back possession high up the pitch before slotting home a right-footed shot.

We were the width of the crossbar away from doubling our lead when one wing-back, Hannah Blundell, crossed for the other, Claire Rafferty, to head against the woodwork, but we retained a narrow lead going into the half-time interval.

The second goal eventually came from the boot of last season's FA Women's Super League 1 top scorer Eniola Aluko. She came off the bench amid a whole host of changes after the hour mark, which included the introduction of Ramona Bachmann for her first action since joining the Blues.

Once again, the goal was down to the quality of our pressing in the attacking third and Aluko finished expertly from close range to give us our second win of pre-season against another quality opponent.

The squad returns to England this weekend ahead of our next game, which is behind closed doors once again as we host Norwegian side LSK Kvinner at Staines Town on Monday.